Shirring presser foot



Aug. 25, 1959 W- J. MENDLES SHIRRING PRESSER FOOT Filed Aug. 31, 1956 WITNESS I INVENTOR. Walter J. Mend/es A IORNEY United States Patent Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 31, 1956, Serial No. 607,381

1 Claim. (Cl. 112-235) This invention relates to sewing machine presser feet and more particularly to a presser foot adapted to be employed for forming a shirred seam.

With prior presser feet employed for this purpose, commonly designated as shirring presser feet, considerable difliculty has been encountered when'attempting-to obtain satisfactory uniform shirring of the fabric particularly with fabrics characterized by their lightness in weight, as for example jersey, tricot and the like. This difficul-ty is primarily due to the structure of the prior shirring presser feet, which are constructed in a manner such that it is not always possible to maintain the fabric-engaging shirring shoe properly disposed relative to the rows of serrated feed-dog teeth whereby the shoe is capable of engaging each of the rows with equal pressure. Since these rows of serrated feed teeth are spaced transversely of the direction of feed, in the absence of equal pressure engagement of the shoe on each of the rows during the feeding of the fabric the respective sections of material in engagement with the individual rows of teeth are not fed in equal increments. This results in uneven shirring of the fabric.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a shirring presser foot which will obviate the above difficulties and others encountered heretofore and produce a uniformly shirred seam.

The present invention accomplishes this objective by providing a shirring presser foot having a fabric-engaging shoe capable of limited universal movement whereby the shoe is substantially self-aligning relative to the serrated feed-dog teeth in a manner such that the fabric-engaging surface of the shoe maintains equal pressure on the fabric being fed on each of the rows of feed teeth.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a fragmentary side elevational view of a presser bar and feeding mechanism of a sewing machine showing the shirring presser foot of the present invention in relation thereto and a schematic showing of the shirred fabric.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the shirring presser foot and feed mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the shirring presser foot illustrated in Fig. 1.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration, the shirring presser foot of the present invention is shown applied to a sewing machine having a throat plate 11 which is formed with parallel slots 12 through which project the rows of serrated feed teeth 13, 13' and 13 of a feed-dog forming part of the feed mechanism not herein shown.

Patented Aug. 25, 1959 Positioned above the throat plate and carried by a sewing machine head (not shown) is the usual spring depressed and elevatable presser bar 14 to which the shirring. presser foot 10 of the present invention is attached. As shown, the shining presser foot 10 comprises a shank 15 fitted in the conventional manner for attachment to the presser bar 14 by means of a screw 16. Extending laterally and forwardly from the lower end of the shank 15 in the direction of approach of the fabric 7 is a horizontal heel plate 17 having formed at its forward or free end an upwardly projecting toe 18 and at an intermediate portion a needle-receiving aperture 19. Pivotally carried on a forwardly extending horizontal stud 20 threaded in the toe 18 is a yoke 21, having a bight 22 which is of,

A horizontal pin 24 positioned transversely of the stud 20is carried by the arms 23 and is arranged pivotally to support a shirring shoe 25 in a manner such that the shoe may have limited tilting movement about the horizontal pin 24 toward and away from the heel plate 17.

The shirring shoe 25 has a flat fabric-engaging surface 26 which maintains the fabric against the feed-dog teeth 13, 13 and 13 which feed the fabric in the well known manner. The shoe 25 is formed with a toe portion 27 which extends forwardly of the front end of the heel plate 17 and a heel portion 28 which extends beneath the heel plate 17, the rear edge of the heel portion 28 terminating on a line substantially at the axis of the heel plate needle aperture 19. To permit free passage of the sewing machine needle a vertical groove 29 in substantial alignment with the needle aperture 19 is formed along the rear edge of the heel portion 28.

From the foregoing description, it is readily apparent that the shirring shoe 25 is mounted on the heel plate 17 for limited universal movement relative thereto. This is made possible by the arrangement of the yoke-carrying stud 20 which permits rocking movement of the shirring shoe 25 transversely of the direction of feed and the pivot pin 24 which is horizontally positioned transversely of the stud '20 and permits tilting of the shirring shoe 25 toward and away from the feed dog. Thus, when the shirring shoe 25 is forced toward engagement with the serrated feed teeth 13, 13' and 13", the shoe 25 is free to rock and tilt respectively about the stud 20 and pin 24 to align automatically or adjust itself with respect to a plane defined by the tops of the teeth 13, 13 and 13" and the fabric-engaging surface 26 thus engages each row of teeth with equal pressure. Under these conditions during each feed advance movement of the teeth, the sections of fabric f, f" and f' in engagement 'with the respective rows of feed teeth 13, 13 and 13 will each be fed an equal amount, and when the fabric enters the sections of the foot below the heel plate 17 and rearwardly of the shoe 25, each of fabric sections 7, f" and f' will gather an equal amount and form a full shirred fold. Upon successive feed advance movements substantially equal shirred folds will be formed which when stitched, result. in a. uniformly shirred seam.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

A sewing machine shirring presser foot comprising a shank adapted at its upper end for attachment to the lower end of a sewing machine presser bar, a heel plate projecting from the lower end of said shank, said heel plate having an upstanding toe on its free end and said heel plate at a location between said shank and said toe 'being provided witha needle receiving aperture, a horizontally extending stud projecting from the front end of said toe, a yoke pivotally carried by said stud for rocking movement thereabout, a pair of spaced arms depending h 2,900,942 3 4 from said yoke and thereby forming a bifurcated lower being aligned with a portion of the needle receiving aperend on said yoke, a pivot pin carried by said spaced arms, ture formed in said heel plate.

a shirring shoe pivotally carried by said pivot pin, said shoe having a toe portion extending forwardly of said References Cited m the file of thls patent pivot pin and said shoe having a heel portion extending 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS rearwardly of said pivot pin, said heel portion being dis- 2,125,043 Card July 26, 1938 posed below said heel plate and being provided at its rear- 2,314,861 Antonelli Mar. 30, 1943 ward end with a vertically extending groove, said groove 2,346,637 Wesson Apr. 11, 1944 

